I’ve been carrying on for a while now about this Oola stuff, I know. So, I thought I would share a little about how I came to find it, what it is, and what it means to me/us.

One day about a year and a half ago I was perusing netgalley (as I love to do) and saw the cover over there <—.

I was intrigued, but saw it was self-help/non-fic and thought maybe it was too crunchy crazy for me because of the VW bus on the cover and moved on past.

About a month later one of my local friends on twitter posted something with the hashtag #oola.  For some reason, the word had stuck with me from that cover and I immediately tackled her on it, asking what she knew of it.  Her response is lost to the twitter gods…but it was along the lines of “It’s amazing.” I said I remembered seeing an oola book on Netgalley and I’d go see if it was still available.

It WAS!  I snatched it up immediately – and then promptly forgot about it for probably five or six months.

One weekend after I’d quit the job I hated, I took a chance to run some surveys at a local movie theater. I was only to survey people coming out of a couple of particular movies. Not sure if you know this, but movie theaters run movies in chunks. So everything goes in and releases within a half hour span every couple of hours. That left a LOT of time sitting around staring at this –>.

While sitting on a bench during one of the lulls, I opened the kindle app on my phone, pondering what to read.

I’m not sure what called me to it, but as soon as I saw Oola, I downloaded and began to read.

Within an hour I was sending my husband screen captures saying “Read this! And this! and this! This is amazing!”

Whether it was the right timing, or the right words, the book spoke to me. Some of the stories didn’t speak to me, but many left me in tears. It inspired me, uplifted me, and made me look at EVERYTHING in my life differently.  It changed my life.

I know, I know…I’m using the words “It was LIFE-CHANGING.”  The thing is…I don’t say this lightly. I’ve read my share of self-help books that didn’t do anything for me. Again. I don’t know if it was the timing, the words, or the simple complexity of the whole theory…but it struck me. It didn’t hit my husband in the same way…at first.  Now? He’s fully on board. We’ve both read an Oola book (There are currently 2 versions with a 3rd to be released soon and a 4th planned) at least twice. I’m on my third go right now.

Okay, so what is it?

From the Oola website:

oo-la (noun): That state of awesomeness. It is when your life is balanced and growing in the seven key areas of life – the 7 F’s of Oola (fitness, finance, family, field (career), faith, friends and fun).

It’s a book that guides you on how to find balance in the 7 key areas of your life.  (Heads up, the authors are deeply Christian and as someone who isn’t this could have easily turned me off…but in the Faith section they admit they’re Christian and say “but you do you.” Which, for me, made them a-ok in my book).

The book leads you through every one of the key areas, talking about how you can attain Oola in each, or what it means to attain Oola in each.

They break down what are called “Oola blockers” – like Fear, Guilt, Anger, etc. Then, they talk about my favorite – the “Oola accelerators” like Gratitude, Love, and Passion.

You are given quizzes to see where you are in each area so that you might create your Oola Wheel and see what you need to work on. You’re also given steps to find three daily tasks that take you closer to your Oola goals. By working on one area of your life, the Oola spreads to other areas so you see a general lift in each area.  I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen it have a huge impact on our lives. It sounds hokey, but it works.

I met the Oola guys

In June I got to head to a local Barnes & Noble to get my Oola books signed by the authors.

I even got to put my own Oola goal on the Dream bus…on the layer of stickers covering the VW. (My dream is not in this picture…it must have been before I placed it…but it was to move to Florida – weeks before we made the decision to do just that).

I kid you not, I was like a kid at Disney World when I walked around the corner and saw that bus outside. It was real, and I was adding MY dream to the bus.

I know I keep saying it, but it’s made a big change in our lives.  We keep each other in check by reminding each other “Oola” when things get rough. We have open discussion about Oola Blockers and Accelerators. We’ve taken steps to better our lives using the principles and are seeing positive changes.

We stumble, sure. Of course we do.  Lately, my biggest struggle has been in the fitness aspect and it’s bringing me down everywhere. So, I’ve quit smoking finally (over 2 months now), and I’ve gotten back on a healthier diet, I’ve been working on quitting pop, and am doing exercise program that worked for me in the past. My goals don’t involve a number on a scale, but a general return to the healthy level and excellent shape I was in almost 2 years ago.

We are living the #oolalife as best we can – and knocking out our Oola goals as we can.

I know, I’m one of THOSE people…never thought I would be, but I SO am.

Come on in, the water’s GREAT.